The present invention relates generally to a an ejector arrangement for a work machine, and more specifically to a mounting apparatus used to couple an ejector blade to a hydraulic cylinder.
Work machines are used in earth moving operations to move material, such as dirt and rocks, from one location to another. An example of the aforementioned type of work machine is the ejector truck often advantageously utilized in those application in which space constraints limit or prohibit the raising of a truck bed such as is required for a conventional dump truck. Typically, the bed portion of an ejector truck remains attached to the bed portion chassis. An ejector blade is moveably mounted within the truck bed and is coupled to a hydraulic ram or cylinder comprising a plurality of sequentially extendable and retractable individual segments. The cylinder is typically coupled to the ejector blade by two trunnions or pivot pins disposed on opposite sides of the cylinder and co-linearly oriented, thereby allowing rotation of the ejector blade, relative to the cylinder, about an axis generally parallel with the floor of the bed. An example of such a cylinder coupling arrangement is shown in Patent Cooperation Treaty publication WO 99/15357 published on Apr. 1, 1999.
One drawback of prior art ejector-type work machines is the potential damage to the aforementioned trunnions caused by either an uneven load in the bed portion or, during ejector blade retraction, an obstruction contacting the ejector blade causing a tendency of the ejector blade to rotate about a substantially vertical axis substantially located at the point of attachment of the ejector blade with the hydraulic cylinder. To assist in preventing the aforementioned rotation, adjustable yaw rollers are typically provided on the ejector blade-mounted carriage portion to slidably engage the side walls of the truck bed. However, damage to the aforementioned trunnions and/or cylinder may result upon improper yaw roller adjustment requiring the trunnions to bear these loading conditions until the improperly adjusted yaw roller or rollers engage the side walls of the truck bed, thereupon transferring these loads to the truck bed. The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ejector arrangement for a work machine of the type having a receptacle. The ejector arrangement includes an ejector blade, a cylinder, and a coupler pivotally coupled to the cylinder and pivotally coupled with the ejector blade.
In another aspect of the invention, a method of attaching a cylinder to an ejector blade in a work machine is provided. The method consists of pivotally attaching a first coupler member to a cylinder about a first longitudinal axis. The method also consists of providing a second coupler member attached with the ejector blade and pivotally attached to the first coupler member about a second longitudinal axis.